Savoy opera
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The Savoy Operas are a series of comic operas or operettas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. Strictly speaking, the term refers only to those whose first run or part thereof occurred at the Savoy Theatre in London (those from Patience onwards); in practice, the term is used more generally to refer to all the operas written by librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, and produced by Richard D'Oyly Carte:
- Trial by Jury (1875)
- The Sorcerer (1877)
- H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass that Loved a Sailor (1878)
- The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty (1880)
- Patience, or Bunthorne's Bride (1881)
- Iolanthe, or The Peer and the Peri (1882)
- Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant (1884)
- The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu (1885)
- Ruddigore, or The Witch's Curse (1887)
- The Yeomen of the Guard, or The Merryman and his Maid (1888)
- The Gondoliers, or The King of Barataria (1889)
- Utopia Limited, or The Flowers of Progress (1893)
- The Grand Duke, or The Statutory Duel (1896)
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Other Definitions
During the years when the Gilbert and Sullivan ("G&S") operas were being written, Richard D'Oyly Carte also produced operas by other composer/librettist teams, either as curtain-raisers to the G&S pieces, or to fill the theatre when no G&S piece was available. To their contemporaries, the term "Savoy Opera" referred to any opera that appeared at that theatre, regardless of who wrote it.
Aside from curtain-raisers, the G&S operas were the only works produced at the Savoy Theatre from the date it opened (October 10, 1881) until The Gondoliers closed on June 20, 1891. Over the next decade, there were only two new G&S pieces (Utopia Limited and The Grand Duke), both of which had comparatively brief runs. To fill the gap, Carte mounted G&S revivals, Sullivan operas with different librettists, and works by other composer/librettist teams.
Richard D'Oyly Carte died on April 3, 1901. If the nexus of Carte and the Savoy Theatre is used to define "Savoy Opera," then the last new Savoy Opera was The Rose of Persia (music by Sullivan, libretto by Basil Hood), which ran from November 28, 1899–June 28, 1900.
After Carte's death, his wife Helen assumed management of the theatre. She continued to produce new pieces in the G&S style, along with G&S revivals. Counting the pieces that Helen D'Oyly Carte produced, the last Savoy Opera was A Princess of Kensington (music by Edward German, libretto by Basil Hood), which ran for four months in early 1903. This is the point that Cyril Rollins and R. John Witts adopt as the end of the Savoy Operas.
After A Princess of Kensington, Mrs. D'Oyly Carte relinquished control of the theatre until December 8, 1906, when she produced a series of G&S revivals in repertory, with Gilbert returning to direct. In March 1909, Charles H. Workman assumed control of the theatre, producing several new pieces, including one by Gilbert himself, Fallen Fairies (music by Edward German). The last of these Workman-produced works came in early 1910, Two Merry Monarchs by Arthur Anderson, George Levy, Hartley Carrick, and Orlando Morgan. S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald regards this piece as the last of the Savoy Operas.
Fitz-Gerald wrote his book, The Story of the Savoy Opera, in 1924, when these other pieces were still within living memory. But over time, anything produced at the Savoy by other composers or librettists was largely forgotten. The term "Savoy Opera" came to be synonymous with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Lastly, it must be noted that Gilbert and Sullivan wrote one additional opera together — their first collaboration, Thespis, in 1871. This opera was not a Savoy Opera under any of the definitions mentioned to this point, as Richard D'Oyly Carte didn't produce it, and it never appeared at the Savoy Theatre. However, Rollins & Witts include it in their compendium of the Savoy Operas, as does Geoffrey Smith. Given its lack of a D'Oyly Carte or Savoy connection, Thespis probably has the most tenuous claim to be a "Savoy Opera."
Complete List
The following table shows all of the operas that could be considered "Savoy Operas" under any of the definitions mentioned above. Only first runs are shown. Curtain-raisers and afterpieces are excluded, aside from Trial By Jury.
References
- Template:Cite book Foreword by Martyn Green.